Chusetts



(NoModeL) 2-SheetsSheet & W. W. WHI'TMARSH. SELF ADJUSTING FENDER 0RGUARD FOR RAILWAY CARS.

S. S. PUTNAM, Jr.

v No. 442,546. Patented Dec. 9, 1890.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

s. s. PUTNAM, Jr., & w. W. WHITMARSH. SELF ADJUSTING FENDER OR GUARDFORRAILWAY CARS.

No.442,546. Patented Dec. 9, 1890,

Nrrnn STATES PATENT @rricnt SILAS S. PUTN JR, AND WVILLIAM W. WHITMARSH,OF BOSTON, MASSA- CHUSETTS.

SELF-ADJUSTING FENDER OR GUARD FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 442,546, dated December9, 1890.

Application filed September 11, 1890. Serial No. 364,704- (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, SILAS S. PUTNAM, J l., and WILLIAM W. WHITMARsH,citizens of the United States, residing at Boston, i n the county ofSuffolk and Sta e of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvementsin Self-Adjusting Fenders or Guards for Railway-Oars, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, inwhich- Figure 1 is a perspective view of one end of a street-railway carhaving our improved fender or guard applied thereto. Fig. 2 is an endelevation of the lower portion of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan view of theunder side of the same. Fig. l is a longitudinal vertical section on theline w of Fig. 2.

Our invention relates to an improvement on the self-adjusting tender orguard for railway-cars for which Letters Patent of the United Stateswere granted to S. S. Putnam, Jr., July I, 1890, No.4:31,393, and hasfor its object to providea means whereby the fender or guard may bepushed back horizontally beneath the end of the car to which it isattached, so that it will be entirely out of the way when not requiredfor useas, for instance, when the car is to be stored away in thecar-house, where it is desirable to economize space by placing the carsas near together as possible, or where two cars are to be coupledtogether.

To this end our invention consists in the combination, with arailway-car, of a fender or guard arranged to slide horizontally beneaththe end of the car to which it is attached, whereby it may be drawn outinto a position for use or pushed back out of the way when not required,a suitable catch or retaining device being provided for looking orholding the fender in place when drawn out or pushed in, as hereinafterset forth.

In the said drawings, A represents the front portion of a railway-car,to the under side of which are secured two guide-bars B B, pro vided ontheir inner sides with grooves a, within which fit the side pieces 0 cof a horizontally-sliding frame 0, the said side pieces 0 0 beingconnected to transverse rods d d. To the front end of this frame C ispivoted the fender D,preferably composed of sheet metal, and ofanysuitable or desirable form. The bolts e 6, upon which the fender D ishung, pass through suitable apertures at or near its rear upper cornersand enter the front ends of the supporting-frame O, the fender beingsupported with its lower edge quite close to the ground and being freeto rock or oscillate upon its pivots e e either downwardly or upwardly.The pivots e care so placed that the fender will swing downward by itsown weight to its proper level, in which position it is supported by aspringf, coiled around one of the transverse rods d, the front loopedend of said spring fitting within a guide g, secured to the under sideof the fender, whereby if the fender is depressed or rocked downward byencountering an obstruction it will be instantly'returned to itsoriginal position when released in a manner similar to that shown in thepatent of S. S. Putnam, Jr., before referred to. In case, however, thefender is brought into contact with the ground by the excessive joltingor longitudinal rocking motion of the car, it will readily yield or rockupward on its pivots e e and be instantly returned to its proper levelby its own weight, combined with the action of the springf, as the endof the car to which it is attached rises, thusavoiding anyliability ofbreakage or injury to the parts, as would occur if the fender were rigidlyattached to the car. The sprin g f m a y be of anysuita-ble form ordescription, and may be so applied, as shown in the drawings, that itwill return the fender to its normal position when rocked either upwardor downward; or it may be arranged to merely raise the fender afterhaving been depressed, in which case the weight of the fender will berelied upon to carry it down after it has been rocked upward.

The front edge of the fender is provided with a curved or crescentshaped flange 2', the inner edge 10 of which is slightly below the levelof the front edge of the fender, whereby the latter is prevented fromactually striking the ground, the edge 10 of the flange 11 receiving theblow and sliding along the ground, thus preventing the front edge of thefender, if brought down near to the ground, from catching under a stoneor other obstruction, and thereby avoiding liability of accident fromthis cause. This flange, however, is fully described and claimed in theaforesaid patent of S. S. Putnam, Jr., and forms no part of the presentinvention.

5 IVhen the car is to be used, the horizontally-sliding supporting-frameO is moved for? ward in its guideways into the position seen in Figs. 1and 3, a suitable stop or stops h being provided to limit its outwardmovement.

to This causes the fender D to project beyond the front end of thedasher of the car, as desired, in which position it is locked by asuitable catch or retaining device, which in the present instanceconsists of a double lever G, fulcrumed on the front rod cl, the frontlooped end of said lever G being adapted to engage with a hook 7c,projecting from the underside of the draw-head or bumper m, thus holdingthe frame 0 and fender D securely in place against any force which maytend to push them backward. WVhen the ear is to be placed in thecar-house, where it is desirable to economize space. to the greatestpossible extent, or where two cars are to be coupled together, theretaining device G is unfastened and the frame 0, with the fender D,slid back horizontally beneath the front end of the car, as seen in Fig.4, in which position the fender is entirely under the car, out of theway, no pertion of it projecting beyond the platform I'I. Suitable stopsn serve to limit the backward movement of the frame 0, and when thefender is pushed back as far as permitted by said stops it is heldsecurely in place by the 3 5 retaining-lever G, which is adapted toengage with a hook q, suitably placed to receive it.

It is obvious that the retaining device may be adapted to hold the frame0 in any desired position intermediate between its extremes of 0movement, whereby the fender may be secured in place with its front endprojecting more or less beyond the end of the car, as may -be desired.

Each end of the car is to be provided with one of the above-describedhorizontally-sliding fenders, and when the car is in use the fender atthe rear end is pushed beneath the car into the position seen in Fig. 4,entirely out of the way. What we claim as our invention, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

a position for use or pushed back out of the way when not required,substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a railway-car, of

a fender or guard secured to a supportingframe adapted to slidehorizontally in guides beneath the end of the car, means for holdingsaid fender in place when adjusted, and stops for limiting thehorizontal sliding movement of the fender in either direction,substantially as described. 0

3. In a railway-car, a self-adjusting fender or guard pivoted to asupporting-frame adapted to slide horizontally in suitable guidesbeneath the end of the ear to which the fender is attached, said fenderbeing adapted to rock or oscillate on its pivots toward or from theground independently of the car to which it is attached, means forholding said fender at the proper level and automatically returning itto its normal position afterbeing rocked or oscillated, and a retainingdevice for holding the sliding frame and fender in position when drawnout into an operative position or pushed in beneath the car when notrequired for use, substantially as set forth.

4. In a railway-car, the combination of the fender D, pivoted to theframe 0, arranged to slide horizontally in guides on the under side ofthe car, the springf, adapted to support the fender at its proper leveland automatically return it to its normal position after being rocked oroscillated, stops for limit-

